Comic: Clench and Cheese
Pageviews: about 20,000 since September 30th
Age: 41
In what part of the world do you live: Iowa
Are you single/boyfriend/girlfriend/married: Happily married
Children: Two girls
Day job: Freelance Flash Animation and web design. I also teach at a local community college.
How long have you been making comics? Tell us a bit about that if you would, please.
I started drawing comics when I was a teenager and have kept a-going. I had one of the very first online comics sites, the Tonar Syndicate, which ran in 1995. I quit when the service provider hit me for a massive fee to cover high-bandwidth use, something which should have clued me in to the possibilities. Ah well. I took a fairly long hiatus after 1997 or so, but have come back to comics …my first love.
How did random everybodies go about trying to get their comic out there before webcomics came around?
Just before web comics, I was very fond of taking runs of ten different strips (reproduced at Kinko's) and stapling then to telephone poles around Portland. They very quickly disappeared, a fact I attributed to the rampant competition between the people that posted band fliers. Once, though, I saw a guy who had collected all of the comics and put them on a bulletin board. Though this is a small thing, I still consider it one of the greatest compliments I've received. I still have these and plan on putting them up on Drunk Duck some time.
So is the advent of webcomics a pretty good thing? It can't be all good, surely… how does it compare?
I love webcomics. Not only do you have immediate feedback from peers, strangers, and anyone else who happens upon them, they are completely open to experiments in narrative, format, content, frequency… whatever you can think of. They also have the ability to include sound, animation, live-action sequences and other eye-poppers. But since there are no barriers, there's just a ton more stuff out there. Lots of crap to sort through, but the gems are there too. I've got almost thirty favorites on Drunk Duck at the moment, all of them great. Thank god they don't ALL update every day!
Has the format or nature of webcomics changed how you do them?
Before webcomics, my work flow was completely different. I would loosely write out an idea and make some very rough sketches, get out the bristol board, blue-pencil in the main action and dialog, ink in the dialog and art (I almost always have inked right over rough blue pencil because I do both pencils and ink) and then do whatever corrections are necessary. With webcomics, I use a totally different methodology: I start with a vague idea, then look for reference photos on flickr or google, take these into Photoshop and mess around with them until I'm satisfied. I then import them into Bauhaus Mirage, draw the figures on a new layer, export it to Flash, insert the dialog bubbles and text and then to one final export from Fireworks. All told, each strip takes me between ninety minutes and three hours. It's backwards, but it seems to be working so far.
What is your favorite part of making comics?
My favorite part of all of this is seeing the story unfold. Once it gets going I have absolutely no idea where it will end up. For example, in a recent storyline the boys were engaged to play at a Nazi benefit concert. Originally I was going to feature a lot of contemporary characters like Karl Rove, but as the idea developed he morphed into a deranged version of Walt Disney (crossed with Charles Manson). So I just never know where it's going, and I'm usually surprised by the results. I love the drawing, too. I also get up at 4am to do this, so finishing in time to see the sunrise, have coffee with my wife and take the girls to school is a great way to start the day.
What are some of your influences for Clench and Cheese?
Clench and Cheese started as a gritty black and white weekly comic that was slated to appear in a Seattle rock paper. The paper folded, so I put the project aside. Many years later, I got into animation and decided to make a series of shorts about Clench and Cheese that focused more on their lives and the issues of getting older. The first short (which is still in production) is about Clench needing to see a dentist. The characters have pretty much written themselves. My influences as a comics artists include Gilbert Shelton, Bill Watterson, Rand Holmes, Foolbert Sturgeon, Los Bros. Hernandez and Chris Onstad. They are all pretty much famous for their writing and/or gags. As far as art goes, I'd say Edward Hopper and Norman Rockwell. Seriously.
Is there anything you would want to go back and change, if you had the chance?
There are times I wish I hadn't dedicated myself to daily updates… it's a TON of work. That said, though, I'm awfully proud of staying so consistent. I've sometimes had discipline issues, so this is a real coup for me. I'm pretty happy all in all.
Are there things you want to do in your comic but you have to resist?
I'd have to say no. Beauty of webcomics, right? No rules.
What goals do you have for your comics?
This may be naive, but I'd really like to make a living from it one way or another. Within the next three months I want to get the retail arm of Clench and Cheese off the ground and offer books, coasters, stickers, T-shirts and the like as well as signed, framed copies of strips. I'm also working on a series of five to ten- second animations for Youtube that are pretty much one-liner, Family Guy-type gags. And I want to finally finish the short. So, yes, lots of plans. Big plans!
Is there another project in a secret part of your mind that desperately wants out?
I'm really fortunate in my choice of animation and comics because it pretty much hits all the stuff I like to do. I'm a drummer and guitarist, a fledgling music producer, video editor and a hammy ol' voice actor. Cartoons and animation utilize all this as well as the gag writing. I do want to be involved in more performance stuff, but I just haven't had any time.
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Interviews
Drunk Duck Creator Interview: carrollhach of Clench and Cheese
I'm delighted you've decided to post them here. ^_^ I've really enjoyed the 3 so far, and I'd love to see lots, lots more.
great job, Skoolmunkee, and nice interview, Carrolhach. It's always nice to hear from those webcomic artists who are married with kids and just enjoying what they do. :)
This interview convinced me he's crazy. He gets up at 4am every day to do his comic! :O
I stay up until 7am to do mine ^_^
Of course, that's because I think I have Delayed phase sleep syndrome or something.
Haha, that was an interesting article. According to wiki I have Non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome. lol!
But I don't see it as a problem or a syndrome. Seriously: sleep when you want and work when it feels best for you. :)
-if you can! …most people can't, their work won't let them :(
Ha! I always wanted Carrollhach to look like his avatar! Good interview!
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